Ecclesiastes 11:2 Commentary and Bible Study

He now provides us a lesson from giving with a twist in the tail. This seems to be taken from the practice of the rich giving alms, portions of their substance, to the poor and destitute. Or maybe it refers to a farmer who has had a tremendous harvest – far more than he needs for himself. What is he going to do with it all? Be generous, says Solomon, even to the point of giving from your substance to seven others; in fact, he adds, if an eighth comes along give something to that one as well. Care about other people and be on the lookout for their needs. But the twist in the tail is this: the reason why he urges us to be good givers is the opposite of what we might expect. It is a reason which might be expected to have the opposite effect with some. ‘Give much,’ he says, ‘because you don’t know what evil is going to come along in the near future.’ ‘But surely,’ says the man of the world, ‘that is precisely why it is not a good reason to give away what I have. To protect myself against shortage I should hang on to everything I have, because an evil day may be just round the corner. Why should I give things away when I may need them soon myself?’ Ah, but that is not how the man of faith thinks and this is just the point of the verse. It is not first of all a lesson in giving but is an analysis of the way that faith thinks.Faith says, what I give to God and to others in the name of God is not my loss but my gain, for he is the God who does not forget anything we do. To give to him is to place our riches in the most secure place possible. It is to safeguard those riches against loss by putting them beyond the reach of harm. Beyond the reach of harm? But surely, they have been put out of our owner’s reach also? What use is that to me? Yes, but faith sees things differently. Faith says, ‘And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward’ (Matthew 10:42).